In Flames thrived on pressure

Band say giving themselves just six weeks to write and record Siren Charms was exactly what they needed

Swedish metal outfit In Flames say they needed to put themselves under pressure to complete latest album Siren Charms.

Their 11th album launched in September and frontman Anders Friden says having just six weeks to write and record focused the band on the task ahead.

He tells the Artisan News Service: “We had a big bag of riffs which were excellent, but they needed structure. We put the framework of the songs together for the first two weeks and that was really exciting.

“We put a lot of pressure on ourselves with this album because we decided to record it in six weeks and last album Sounds Of A Playground Fading was done in twice that time.

“I think we needed that pressure to get this album the way it’s supposed to be.”

Friden also says the band never compare their studio work against previous material and insists each record is a different chapter in their career.

He continues: “We never compare the albums to each other – this is a new chapter and that’s how it is with every album. We don’t write music in between or on tour, that’s why every album will be slightly different.

“Every time we finish an album I’m super-happy the way it turned out, otherwise we would never release it – but we always look to the future to the next one.”